Bulls fail to build on success of 2007

MIAMI — It was just last April when the Chicago Bulls stormed out of AmericanAirlines Arena with a 4-0 first-round sweep of the Heat and a seemingly limitless future.

Tuesday night the Bulls arrived prepared for playoff extinction, a team featuring Luol Deng, Ben Gordon and Kirk Hinrich not good enough to qualify even in the moribund Eastern Conference.

"It can happen overnight, it just can," Heat coach Pat Riley said. "It's not always easy to keep it together."

Riley noted two factors.

"All of the trade talk prior to the season about Kobe Bryant broke the trust probably there, somewhat," he said of talk of trading away Chicago's youthful core for the Lakers guard.

Riley also cited negotiations that failed to produce contract extensions for Deng and Gordon.

"The map changes overnight when money gets involved, when trade rumors get involved, when egos get involved, when other things get involved," he said. "We know it happened to us, and the same thing happened to them."

Johnson still out

Forward Alexander Johnson missed his second game since sustaining a concussion in Friday's loss in Washington. "I feel it most when I wake up," he said. ...

"Early on, he was pretty much just a guy who caught the ball and looked to pass," Boylan said. "But now he's starting to take the ball to the basket." ...

Riley downplayed reaction to Monday's selection to the Basketball Hall of Fame. "I don't have many friends. I really don't have a lot of friends," he said. "The friends I do have called, and e-mailed me and texted me."

Powell returns

After making a detour back to the Sioux Falls (S.D.) Skyforce to play two games and collect his trophy as Most Valuable Player of the NBA Development League, forward Kasib Powell re-signed with the Heat for the balance of the season.

Powell had appeared in six previous games for the Heat, making three starts, before his 10-day contract expired a week ago.

The second and final 10-day contracts of forward Stephan Lasme and guard Blake Ahearn expire today. They next must be signed for the balance of the season or be released.